Steam iron

ABSTRACT

A steam iron is described. The steam iron includes a housing, a handle defined at an upper portion of the housing, a soleplate carried on a base portion of the housing, a heating assembly carried in the housing and in thermal communication with the soleplate, a spray outlet, a water reservoir defined in the housing, and a pump assembly. The pump assembly includes a first mechanical pump which is manually operable to pump water from the reservoir and deliver a shot of steam from the soleplate, and a second mechanical pump manually operable to pump water from the reservoir and deliver a spray of water from the spray outlet. The steam iron also includes an underhandle trigger for manually operating one of the first and second mechanical pumps, the underhandle trigger being located beneath the handle, and an upper trigger for manually operating the other of the first and second mechanical pumps, the upper trigger being located in an upper portion of the iron housing.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present patent application claims the priority benefit of the filingdate of Australian Patent Application No. 2009901617, filed Apr. 15,2009, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to steam irons, and more particularly tostand-alone electric steam irons.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many types of steam irons for ironing clothes and suchlike are known.

One broad category of steam irons includes so-called “steam station”irons. Steam station irons include an iron unit connected to a separatesteam station. The iron unit includes a heating element located adjacentto a soleplate for ironing clothes and other laundry. The steam stationincludes a water reservoir which stores and heats water and deliverswater to the iron unit for use in ironing (e.g. as steam or a waterspray).

Another broad category of irons includes stand-alone irons. As with asteam station iron unit a stand alone iron includes a sole plate andheating element, however stand alone-irons also include their ownon-board water reservoir which stores water for use during ironing.

Both steam station iron units and stand-alone irons may be provided withtriggers for using the water during ironing. By way of example, twotriggers may be provided—one for generating a shot of steam and one forgenerating a spray of water mist. These are normally located adjacentone another in a position that can readily accessed by a thumb of theuser during ironing.

It would be desirable to provide an ergonomic iron which can becost-effectively manufactured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect the present invention provides a steam iron including: ahousing; a handle defined at an upper portion of the housing; asoleplate carried on a base portion of the housing; a heating assemblycarried in the housing and in thermal communication with the soleplate;a spray outlet; a water reservoir defined in the housing; a pumpassembly, the pump assembly including a first mechanical pump which ismanually operable to pump water from the reservoir and deliver a shot ofsteam from the soleplate, and a second mechanical pump manually operableto pump water from the reservoir and deliver a spray of water from thespray outlet; an underhandle trigger for manually operating one of thefirst and second mechanical pumps, the underhandle trigger being locatedbeneath the handle; and an upper trigger for manually operating theother of the first and second mechanical pumps, the upper trigger beinglocated in an upper portion of the iron housing.

The underhandle trigger may be operatively connected to the firstmechanical pump for manually operating the first mechanical pump.

The upper trigger may be located at a front of the iron and is centrallylocated with respect to a width of the handle.

The upper trigger may substantially occupy a width of the handle.

The upper and underhandle triggers may be arranged such that when, inuse, a user grips the handle with a hand a thumb of the user restsnaturally on the upper trigger and a finger of the user rests naturallyon the underhandle trigger.

The upper trigger may be slidingly mounted in the iron housing.

The underhandle trigger may be pivotally mounted in the iron housing.

The upper and underhandle triggers may be simultaneously operable by athumb and forefinger of a user.

The first mechanical pump may include a first cylinder in fluidcommunication with the water reservoir via a first inlet, a first outletconduit for delivering water to the soleplate, and a first pistonoperable to charge the first cylinder with water from the reservoir anddischarge water from the first cylinder to the soleplate, and the secondmechanical pump may include a second cylinder in fluid communicationwith the water reservoir via a second inlet and in fluid communicationwith the spray outlet via a second outlet, and a second piston operableto charge the second cylinder with water from the reservoir anddischarge water from the second cylinder to the spray outlet.

The first and second cylinders may be located adjacent to one anotherand be defined by a unitary pump housing.

The upper trigger may include an upper piston actuator which transmitsforce applied to the upper trigger to one of the first piston and secondpiston. The underhandle trigger may include an underhandle pistonactuator which transmits force applied to the underhandle trigger to theother of the first piston and second piston.

In a second aspect the present invention provides a pump assembly for asteam iron, the pump assembly including: a first mechanical pump whichis manually operable to pump water from a reservoir and deliver a shotof steam from the iron, the first mechanical pump including a firstcylinder in fluid communication with the water reservoir via a firstinlet conduit, a first outlet conduit for delivering water to asoleplate of the iron, and a first piston operable to charge the firstcylinder with water from the reservoir and discharge water from thefirst cylinder to the soleplate; a second mechanical pump manuallyoperable to pump water from the reservoir and deliver a spray of waterfrom the iron, the second mechanical pump including a second cylinder influid communication with the water reservoir via a second inlet conduitand in fluid communication with a spray outlet via a second outlet, anda second piston operable to charge the second cylinder with water fromthe reservoir and discharge water from the second cylinder to the sprayoutlet, and wherein the first and second cylinders are located adjacentone another and are defined by a unitary pump housing.

The first mechanical pump may be operably connected to an upper triggerof the iron and the second mechanical pump may be operably connected toan underhandle trigger of the iron.

Alternatively, the first mechanical pump may be operably connected to anunderhandle trigger of the iron and the second mechanical pump may beoperably connected to an upper trigger of the iron.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to thefollowing drawings in which:

FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of an iron according an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 provides an exploded view of a pump assembly for use with theiron of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 provides a partial front perspective view of the iron of FIG. 1with the pump assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 provides a partial rear perspective view of the iron of FIG. 1with the pump assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 provides a sectional view of the iron of FIG. 1 with the pumpassembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 provides a partial elevation view of the pump assembly of FIG. 2with the underhandle trigger at a rest position; and

FIG. 7 provides a partial elevation view of the pump assembly of FIG. 2with the underhandle trigger at a depressed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of a steam iron 100 in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. The iron 100 includes a housing 102in an upper portion of which a handle 104 is defined. The base of thehousing 102 carries a soleplate 104. The iron 100 also includes a sprayoutlet 106 in the form of a nozzle, an upper trigger 108 slidinglymounted in an upper portion of the housing 102, and an underhandletrigger 110 pivotally mounted to the housing 102 such that theunderhandle trigger 110 is positioned beneath the handle 104. A dial 112is also provided for controlling the operation of the iron.

The housing 102 of the iron also houses typical steam iron componentryas is known in the art. These various components may include (by way ofnon-exhaustive illustration): a heating assembly (e.g. heating element103 partially shown in FIG. 5) which is in thermal communication withthe soleplate 104; a power source for powering the iron, the powersource being connectable to an external power supply such as a wallsocket via an electrical lead 114; a water reservoir 116 for storingwater to be used during ironing (e.g. as spray mist or in the productionof steam); a controller such as a microprocessor for controlling theiron 100 in response to user input from the dial 112.

During ironing a user may control various operating parameters of theiron 100 (via the dial 112) such as the heat of the soleplate andwhether constant steam is required to be delivered from the soleplate.The user may also manually operate the upper and underhandle triggers108 and 110 to either deliver a shot of steam through the soleplate 104or to spray water from the spray outlet 110 in the form of a spray mistused to assist in ironing. In the specific embodiment described belowand illustrated, the upper trigger 108 is operable to deliver a shot ofsteam and the underhandle trigger 110 is operable to spray water. Itwill be appreciated, however, that the pump assembly 200 (as describedbelow) may be alternatively arranged such that the upper trigger 108 isoperable to spray water and the underhandle trigger 110 is operable todeliver a shot of steam.

The iron 100 further includes a pump assembly 200 manually operable by auser (via the upper and underhandle triggers 108 and 110) to provide theshot of steam and water spray. FIG. 2 provides an exploded view of thepump assembly 200, and FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 respectively show the assembledpump assembly 200 in front and rear partial perspective views and asectional view of iron 100 with the housing 102 removed.

The pump assembly 200 includes a first mechanical pump 202 for use indelivering a shot of steam and a second mechanical pump 204 for sprayingwater. The first and second mechanical pumps 202 and 204 will bedescribed in turn.

The first mechanical pump 202 includes a first pump cylinder 206 definedin a dual pump housing 208. A first pump biasing means 210 (in this casea coil spring) is received in the first pump cylinder 206, and the firstpump cylinder 206 is sealed by a first pump piston 212 slidinglyreceived therein.

The first pump cylinder 206 has a first pump inlet 214 in fluidcommunication with the water reservoir 116 via conduit 216, elbow 218,and conduit 220. As can be seen, conduit 220 extends to the rear of theiron 100 (or, more precisely, the rear of the water reservoir 116),allowing the first mechanical pump 202 to draw water from the reservoirwhen the iron 100 is held vertically and water pools in the rear sectionof the water reservoir 116.

The first pump cylinder 206 also includes a first pump outlet (obscured)in fluid communication with a first pump outlet conduit 222 via an elbow224, conduit 226 and second elbow 228. The first pump outlet conduit 222terminates in a chamber (not shown) where water delivered from the firstpump outlet conduit 222 is boiled by the iron element to create steam,the steam then being directed out outlet apertures in the base of thesoleplate 104.

The upper trigger 108 is provided with a shaft 230 which, in the presentembodiment, bears on the first pump piston 212 and is arranged toreciprocate within the cylinder 206. When a user depresses the uppertrigger 108 the shaft 230 urges the piston 212 in the first pumpcylinder 206, discharging any water in the first pump cylinder 206 outthe first pump outlet conduit 222 (via elbow 224, conduit 226 and elbow228) to generate a shot of steam. When the upper trigger 108 is releasedthe biasing means 210 acts against the first pump piston 212 to returnthe piston 212 and upper trigger 108 to their rest positions. Thesuction created by the return movement of the piston 212 in the firstcylinder 206 draws up water from the reservoir 116 (via the first pumpinlet conduit 216, elbow 220 and conduit 218) to charge the first pumpcylinder 206.

The second mechanical pump 204 is operationally similar to the firstmechanical pump 202. The second mechanical pump 204 includes a secondpump cylinder 240 defined in the pump housing 208. A second pump biasingcoil spring 242 is received in the second pump cylinder 240, and thesecond pump cylinder 206 sealed by a second pump piston 244 which isslidingly received therein.

The second pump cylinder 240 has a second cylinder inlet 246 in fluidcommunication with a second pump inlet conduit 248 which extends intothe water reservoir 116 to draw water therefrom.

The second pump cylinder 240 also includes a second pump outlet(obscured) in fluid communication with the spray outlet 106 via an elbow250. In this instance the spray outlet 106 includes an outlet nozzle252, an outlet duct 254, an outlet atomiser 256, and an outlet cover258. As can be seen, the spray outlet 106 is arranged such that watersprayed from the spray outlet is angled downwardly and outwardly of theiron 100 when the iron is in an ironing orientation (i.e. the soleplate104 generally parallel to the ground).

The underhandle trigger 110 is provided with an underhandle triggershaft 260 and an underhandle trigger actuator 262. As noted above, theunderhandle trigger 110 is pivotally mounted in the iron housing 102 viathe underhandle trigger shaft 260. When a user squeezes the underhandletrigger 110 (as shown in FIG. 7) the trigger 110 pivots about the shaft206 causing the underhandle trigger actuator 262 to bear on a secondpump cover 264 which in turn (and in this embodiment) bears on thesecond pump piston 244. This urges the piston 244 in the second pumpcylinder 240, discharging any water in the second cylinder 240 out thespray outlet 106 (via elbow 250) to produce a mist spray. When theunderhandle trigger 110 is released (as shown in FIG. 6) the second pumpbiasing means 242 acts against the second pump piston 244 and secondpump cover 264 to return the piston 244, cover 264 and underhandletrigger 110 to their rest positions. The suction created by the returnmovement of the second pump piston 244 in the second cylinder 240 drawsup water from the reservoir 116 (via the second pump inlet conduit 248)to charge the second pump cylinder 240.

As will be appreciated, modifying the above embodiment such that theunderhandle trigger actuator 262 bears on the first pump piston 212 (andis thereby operable to deliver a steam shot) and the upper trigger shaft230 bears on the second pump piston 244 (thereby operable to deliver aspray of water) is easily achieved simply by moving the relativelocations of the underhandle trigger actuator 262 and the upper triggershaft 230.

Returning to FIG. 1, when the iron 100 is being used the user grips thehandle portion 104 in a pistol-type grip. The upper and underhandletriggers 108 and 110 are positioned such that when the iron 100 is sogripped the user's thumb naturally rests on the upper trigger 108 andthe user's index finger naturally rests on the underhandle trigger 110.If desired a user may actuate both the under and upper triggers 108 and110 simultaneously by both depressing their thumb and squeezing theirindex finger.

As can be seen, the upper trigger 108 is centrally located with respectto the width of the handle 104. This is ergonomically friendly as itallows a user to actuate the upper trigger 108 (to either deliver a shotof steam or a spray of water, depending on the configuration of the pumpassembly 200) without having to vary their grip of the handle 104 or theangle of their thumb. This is in contrast to conventional irons whichprovide two buttons at the top of the iron, forcing the user to changetheir grip and/or the angle of their thumb to actuate one or the otherof the buttons.

The upper trigger is also provided with a large surface area 118 for auser to press on with their thumb. By providing a large surface area 118a user can efficiently transfer force to the pump. This is again incontrast to conventional irons which provide buttons with smallersurface areas making it more difficult to efficiently transfer force toa button.

The underhandle trigger 110 is also ergonomically shaped to allow forcomfortable operation by a user and is provided with a relatively largesurface area for efficient transfer of force from the trigger 110 to thepump.

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in thisspecification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more ofthe individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings.All of these different combinations constitute various alternativeaspects of the invention.

1. A steam iron including: a housing; a handle defined at an upperportion of the housing; a soleplate carried on a base portion of thehousing; a heating assembly carried in the housing and in thermalcommunication with the soleplate; a spray outlet; a water reservoirdefined in the housing; a pump assembly, the pump assembly including afirst mechanical pump which is manually operable to pump water from thereservoir and deliver a shot of steam from the soleplate, and a secondmechanical pump manually operable to pump water from the reservoir anddeliver a spray of water from the spray outlet; an underhandle triggerfor manually operating one of the first and second mechanical pumps, theunderhandle trigger being located beneath the handle; and an uppertrigger for manually operating the other of the first and secondmechanical pumps, the upper trigger being located in an upper portion ofthe iron housing.
 2. The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein theunderhandle trigger is operatively connected to the first mechanicalpump for manually operating the first mechanical pump.
 3. The steam ironaccording to claim 1, wherein the upper trigger is located at a front ofthe iron and is centrally located with respect to a width of the handle.4. The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the upper triggersubstantially occupies a width of the handle.
 5. The steam ironaccording to claim 1, wherein the upper and underhandle triggers arearranged such that when, in use, a user grips the handle with a hand athumb of the user rests naturally on the upper trigger and a finger ofthe user rests naturally on the underhandle trigger.
 6. The steam ironaccording to claim 1, wherein the upper trigger is slidingly mounted inthe iron housing.
 7. The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein theunderhandle trigger is pivotally mounted in the iron housing.
 8. Thesteam iron according to claim 1, wherein the upper and underhandletriggers are simultaneously operable by a thumb and forefinger of auser.
 9. The steam iron according to claim 1, wherein the firstmechanical pump includes a first cylinder in fluid communication withthe water reservoir via a first inlet, a first outlet conduit fordelivering water to the soleplate, and a first piston operable to chargethe first cylinder with water from the reservoir and discharge waterfrom the first cylinder to the soleplate, and wherein the secondmechanical pump includes a second cylinder in fluid communication withthe water reservoir via a second inlet and in fluid communication withthe spray outlet via a second outlet, and a second piston operable tocharge the second cylinder with water from the reservoir and dischargewater from the second cylinder to the spray outlet.
 10. The steam ironaccording to claim 9, wherein the first and second cylinders are locatedadjacent one another and are defined by a unitary pump housing.
 11. Thesteam iron according to claim 10, wherein the upper trigger includes anupper piston actuator which transmits force applied to the upper triggerto one of the first piston and second piston, and wherein theunderhandle trigger includes an underhandle piston actuator whichtransmits force applied to the underhandle trigger to the other of thefirst piston and second piston.